As you will see below, it has come to our attention that a gang of scammers are using the name of Scam Patrol to perpetrate a "money recovery scam".

If you receive an email similar to the one below from anyone claiming to be from Scam Patrol or other scam fighting agencies, and asking you to pay a fee to recover money you may have lost to scammers, please DO NOT send them any money, they are scammers and are nothing to do with Scam Patrol. The say they give a 100% guarantee that they can recover your money, that is a LIE, if you have lost money to scammers it CANNOT be recovered.

WE WILL NEVER ASK YOU FOR ANY MONEY FOR OUR SERVICES!

We have recently been informed of an email being circulated on the internet purporting to be from an organisation called InternetScamPatrol

It is unknown at this time whether this organisation is a valid one, but we would like to point out to visitors that InternetScamPatrol does not have any affiliation or link with our own ScamPatrol based here at ScamPatrol.org

The letter in question gives the impression that the United Nations are assisting InternetScamPatrol; This statement is simply untrue.

Another impression from this letter is read in the final paragraph where it states

Quote:

please work with us to recover your lost wealth

Again, this is simply untrue. Once a victim has sent money it is gone for good.

The telephone number given is a Mobile number originating from the Netherlands. Visitors are advised to be VERY cautious about telephoning this number with regard to a scam having taken place.

We at InternetScamPatrol have received information that you are being targeted in an infamous lottery scam/large fund transfer from either Netherlands, Nigeria, Spain, London or Canada between the following dates:

September 15th, 2004
November 30th, 2004

You, as well as thousands of other individuals, have been contacted via email by an individual claiming to be with one or more of the following fraudulent entities which you can find on www.scamorama.org

Before you pay these criminals any money, you should consider the following points:

1) You have probably never heard of the lottery they claim to run. Does this seem suspicious to you?

2) You did not buy a ticket in this imaginary lottery. Therefore, how likely is it that you really won the prize? I will tell you how likely it is: ZERO chance.

3) Millions of fraudulent emails are sent out EVERY DAY from scammers trying to trick people into thinking that they have won a lottery or to help them transfer funds from any of the aformentioned countries. So how likely is it that the one you recieved was real? ZERO.

4) it is ILLEGAL for any cash-prize gaming institutions to request payment of funds up-front from the winner, in virtually every country. Therefore, even if the lottery was real (BUT IT IS NOT REAL), you are committing an act of fraud by agreeing to pay the money. YOU could get into legal troubles even though you are the victim.

5) If you are a United States citizen, it is a felony to participate in ANY lottery in another country. YOU could go to jail!

6) Western Union and other low-security money-transfer agents will NOT refund your money in the case of fraud. Neither will your bank.

I realise this is disappointing to you, we would all like to win a large amount of money, but this is simply a plot to rob you of what money you have right now. If you send these people money, you will NEVER SEE IT AGAIN.

For more information, look up this website:
www.scamorama.org or type www.419legal.com or type "419 scam" or "lottery scam" into the search engine. Take a few moments to educate yourself on the realities of this crime.

Lastly, please do not inform the scammers that you have received this warning. Simply stop communicating with them. Hang up the phone, do not enter into any argument with them. Continuing communication with these individuals puts you and your family at risk from threats and reprisals by the organized criminal scum behind these scams.

Remember: These individuals are criminals, criminals out to RUIN YOUR LIFE!

We are working in collaboration with the UNITED NATIONS(U.N)and the INTERPOL to bring the culprits to book.

If you are a patriotic citizen of your country and have fallen victim to these fraudsters,please work with us to recover your lost wealth and bring these culprits to justice.

Can't help it. Gotta' grin big time. Man, the lingo is so-o standard! I haven't seen these letters yet, but sure as shootin' they'll land in my mailboxes somewhere along the line.

Today I provided an answer to someone who was disappointed about funds recovery. This happens a lot. So I explained a few facts that go well in this string:

1. Financial asset recovery is very, very expensive for the Asset Rrecovery Specialist. Expenses involve hiring attorneys in each country the money passed through. These attorneys are hired for the purpose of organizing the correct legal documents that will allow the presiding court to order the bank to cough up the account info. And that doesn't mean the bank will cooperate, or that the attorney will be successful!

More expenses: Research, discovery, Internet forensics, travel to where the scammer and/or cohorts may be currently located for a Come to Jesus talk. Travel to speak with bankers, which often ends up being necessary if a court order doesn't work. Hiring local of PI's is frequently necessary. Travel expenses to and from the victim's offices. Writing letters, spending hours on end on the phone using every single ounce of expertise and artistry to finesse information out of everyone from some two-bit fall guy to government officials. And on and on and on. All without any guarantee of success whatsoever.

That's why a legitimate Financial Asset Recovery Specialists usually has an asset loss threshhold starting around $500,000 to $1,000,000, unless the case is so totally local that it's a quickie only requiring maybe a couple of phone calls and a nice personal chat with the bad guys.

If any funds are recovered at all, it's important to understand that they are NOT the specific funds of the victim in question. They are the funds of subsequent victims.

AND each case is totally separate. Don't fall for any of this "pooling" mumbo jumbo, especially with Nigerian-style or Romanian scams. One victim's laundered money route has nothing to do with another's, nor is it likely that the funds were even stolen by or went to the same fraud cell. Different cases, different investigations, different costs. The only way victims can be pooled is if they were all, each and every one, definitively swindled by the same guy or group. As in "investment group."

As for the Feds, you gotta' figure around $200,000 in taxpayer money just for a simple criminal investigation case, never mind a complex one, and that doesn't include any kind of recovery whatsoever. If you were personally writing the checks, would you fork over $200,000 to $300,000 to find somebody's $2,000 crook?